Tactical Minerva Punjab look to open account vs debutants NEROCA

LUDHIANA: The first club from Manipur to qualify for the I-league, NEROCA FC begin their journey in the country’s toptier football with a match against Minerva Punjab at the Guru Nanak Stadium.

Minerva Punjab held Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan to a draw at home in their last match and will now host the newly promoted NEROCA FC in their second game. The home side played a tactical game against Mohun Bagan as they followed a man-marking strategy which neutralized the opposition attack for most parts of the game.

Abhishek Ambekar, captain Sukhev and Kassim performed exceptionally well while half time substitute Lago made an instant impact and made life difficult for Mohun Bagan defence. Minerva Punjab head coach Wankhem Khogen Singh was happy with the squad’s performance. “We were excellent in the second half against Mohun Bagan. If we keep the same form we can surely collect three points tomorrow,” said Singh, himself a Manipuri.

NEROCA, on the other hand, are playing their first game of the season and that too an away one in Ludhiana. They had qualified for the I-league after winning the second division I-league. The Manipur side have been strengthened by the addition of attacking midfielder Akhlidin Israilov who hails from Kyrgyzstan and has played for Dynamo Kyiv and Dnipro of Urkraine. But one thing they will surely miss is their home fans which served them as their 12th man for whole of their second division campaign. However, they would still be a very dangerous team and should not be taken lightly.